Business projects taking shape in Havelock

Published: Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 05:23 PM.

McClenton said details on moving the merchandise from the old store to the new one have yet to be worked out. He said he expects the new store to open in early June.

Just down the street, foundation work is being completed for a new 8,320 square-foot Family Dollar store, which is going up next to Friendly Pawn on West Main Street. That store is expected to open sometime during the summer but a specific date was not available.

Further west, Gary Baldree, owner of Baldree’s Tire of Havelock, said that work is coming along on a new location for his business, which is moving across Catawba Road to a spot next to Mario’s Pizza at the end of the Westbrooke Shopping Center.

“Look out,” Baldree said. “It’s going to happen pretty quick.

“We are supposed to be pouring concrete any day and then putting up steel. They have had some bad weather but they are working through it.”

The new garage will be 10 feet wider and deeper than the current one.

“It’s going to be pretty much like what we’ve got, just a little bit bigger,” Baldree said. “I’d say in a couple of months we should be in.”

Work is progressing on three commercial construction projects in Havelock, with all three businesses expected to open this summer.

Workers with Brannan Development expect to have masonry work completed by this weekend on the new Advance Auto Parts store at the corner of South Jackson Drive and West Main Street.

The cinderblock walls of the 6,732 square-foot retail building are taking shape already. When the work is completed, the 10 to 12 employees will transfer business from the current location at 130 East Main St.

Manager Mac McClenton said the reason for the store’s move is the median that replaced the center turning lane in 2012. He said the median has proven to be a barrier between businesses and their customers.

“We are actually super excited because we’ll have a traffic light,” McClenton said of the new location. “That will basically allow customers to come in and out without having to go to the end of Main Street because of this island they built out here.”

He said the new store would be slightly smaller, but slightly taller, than the current one.

“That will raise our backstock up a little bit more, and we’ll be able to get more stock in,” he said. “We’ll have the same stuff we carry now, just much more.”

McClenton said details on moving the merchandise from the old store to the new one have yet to be worked out. He said he expects the new store to open in early June.

Just down the street, foundation work is being completed for a new 8,320 square-foot Family Dollar store, which is going up next to Friendly Pawn on West Main Street. That store is expected to open sometime during the summer but a specific date was not available.

Further west, Gary Baldree, owner of Baldree’s Tire of Havelock, said that work is coming along on a new location for his business, which is moving across Catawba Road to a spot next to Mario’s Pizza at the end of the Westbrooke Shopping Center.

“Look out,” Baldree said. “It’s going to happen pretty quick.

“We are supposed to be pouring concrete any day and then putting up steel. They have had some bad weather but they are working through it.”

The new garage will be 10 feet wider and deeper than the current one.

“It’s going to be pretty much like what we’ve got, just a little bit bigger,” Baldree said. “I’d say in a couple of months we should be in.”

The tire company, which has 10 employees, is moving in part to make way for a new CVS Pharmacy that will move out of the Westbrooke Shopping Center to a free-standing building at the corner of Catawba Road and U.S. 70.

Baldree said CVS had already acquired property from him, Rice’s Rentaland and Fisher Oil to build the pharmacy that he said would include a drive-through.

“It’s going to be a pretty big size,” he said.

An official with CVS could not be reached for a possible opening date.